FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT COMMANDER IN CHIEF - PAGE 3

WASHINGTON - President Bush's campaign is unleashing a direct and meticulously planned assault on John Kerry's national security credentials this week with a nearly $10 million advertising drive intended to undermine what both sides describe as Kerry's potentially greatest asset. The tough television attack advertisements, combined with a speech Vice President Dick Cheney will deliver in Missouri tomorrow, reflect what both sides see as an increasingly critical question: whether Kerry can persuade Americans that he would be a strong enough president in a time of war. The advertisements will begin tomorrow night and will be broadcast on stations in nine states and on some national cable networks.

CHICAGO -- Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, thinks President Bush broke the law with his secret program to eavesdrop on Americans, and he wants Congress to censure Mr. Bush. He's right about the lawbreaking but wrong to think censure is the answer. That might give Americans the impression that Congress is something more than a supine slave of partisan interests. Nothing could be further from the truth. Republicans on Capitol Hill, presented with the censure resolution, practically trampled each other to prove their slobbering devotion to the president.

NEW YORK - When President Bush journeys to this city for the Republican convention, he won't revisit the World Trade Center site. He doesn't need to. Fighting terrorism is already ground zero in Bush's re-election quest. Reminders of Sept. 11 - and the president's leadership after that disaster - go to the heart of his campaign strategy and will likely dominate news out of the Republican convention over the next four days. Bush's handling of the war on terrorism is the one issue, above all others, that can earn him a second term, according to strategists in both parties.

LOS ANGELES -- There's that old Canadian joke," Donald Sutherland is saying, "about the Brit, the Frenchman and the Canadian, who are going to be executed. And they're given a last wish. The Brit says he'd like a cup of tea with milk and sugar. The Canadian says he'd like 15 minutes to talk about Canadian identity. And the Frenchman says he'd like to be shot before the Canadian." Sutherland, who has played his share of iconic Americans -- Hawkeye Pierce in Robert Altman's M*A*S*H, the father in Ordinary People, the pot-befogged professor in Animal House and, right now, nefarious House speaker Nathan Templeton in TV's Commander in Chief -- is himself Canadian.

WASHINGTON -- The last two men to serve as the top uniformed officer and military adviser to the president were firsts -- Gens. Colin L. Powell and John M. Shalikashvili, one black, the other foreign-born.Now, with Shalikashvili retiring in September as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, another possible first is on the horizon.Marine Gen. John J. Sheehan, 56, a candid Boston Irishman who views the military bureaucracy as an enemy beachhead, is among the three front-runners.If nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate, Sheehan, commander in chief of the U.S. Atlantic Command and one of the Corps' three four-star generals, would be the first Marine to hold the post created in the years after World War II.The short list of prospects, Pentagon and congressional sources say, includes Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Adm. Joseph W. Prueher, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, who served as commandant of midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1989 and 1990.

President Obama chose the time, method, and strategy for addressing the terrorist threat posed by Osama bin Laden. He was responsible for the decision, and he was accountable for the results. No matter what point of view you might hold, this president must be credited for effective leadership and management as a commander-in-chief, consoler-in-chief, comedian-in-chief and educator-in-chief. Very few individuals could deal with a weather-related catastrophic situation on Friday morning, provide an inspirational speech at a college commencement on Friday afternoon, attend and actively participate in a formal White House Correspondent's dinner on Saturday evening, play golf on Sunday morning and all the while manage a major event impacting the safety of civilized society by Sunday night.

President Barack Obama awarded Navy's football team with the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy on Thursday afternoon in the East Room at the White House. Here are the president's remarks: Hello, everybody. (Applause.) Hello. Please, everybody have a seat. Well, good afternoon. Welcome to the White House. I want to start by recognizing Coach Ken Niumatalolo, my fellow Hawaiian, for being here once again -- where is he? There he is right here. (Laughter.) Hard to miss him. Give him a big round of applause. (Applause.)

Normally on display in the rotunda of the Naval Academy's Bancroft Hall, the Commander in Chief's Trophy this week rested smack dab in the center of the football team's locker room. Conspicuous placement of the hardware — presented annually to the service academy with the best head-to-head record among the three — was at the top of coach Ken Niumatalolo's motivational checklist in advance of the Midshipmen's game at Air Force on Saturday. It also was a rare instance this decade in which the trophy changed locations.

BOSTON -- Remember when we were told that a woman who wanted the top job had to be twice as good as a man? The first woman in any post would be inspected with a microscope and dismissed for the smallest flaw. Now the first female president of United States of Television has failed to get a second term, excuse me, a second season, because she was too good to be true. Is this progress? Or is it yet another double bind? This week is the last episode of Commander in Chief. Geena Davis' star turn as the first female president was heralded as a breakthrough last fall.